Many have speculated that Strowman was pulled from the match due to an injury, with eagle-eyed viewers noticing some tape on his upper right arm. Although Dave Meltzer confirmed on the Wrestling Observer Radio that Strowman is in fact injured, he claimed that this is not the reason Sami Zayn took his place.

Meltzer is reporting that Strowman’s injury is not bad enough that it requires him to take time off, and he is expected to continue working slightly hurt. Meltzer said that Strowman was replaced by the former NXT Champion in the match as part of a storyline that is expected to unfold in the next few weeks.

Moreover, it was also reported that Braun has some heat backstage with WWE. At WrestleMania 35, Strowman won the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal in the pre-show. However, it has been reported this week that backstage officials were unhappy with the ending of the match, and blamed Strowman for forgetting some of the planned spots with former ally Luke Harper. His removal from the match on Sunday could also serve as a form of punishment for his mistakes at WWE’s biggest pay-per-view of the year.

This is not the first time this year that WWE has pulled Braun Strowman from a previously advertised match at a “big five” pay-per-view. In January, Finn Balor replaced the “Monster Among Men” in his Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble.